Description
A delicious low-carb alternative to rice made with finely chopped cauliflower, garlic, and fresh basil.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 cups finely chopped cauliflower
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or slightly more if you don’t have a good non-stick pan)
- 3 large garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Finely chop the cauliflower into pieces that are about the size of grains of rice, or slightly bigger. (Be careful not to get them too small; you want some texture in the cauliflower.)
- Slice the garlic cloves into 2-3 slices each and grate the Parmesan cheese.
- Wash basil if needed and spin dry or dry with paper towels, then thinly slice the basil.
- Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes, just until they are barely starting to brown.
- Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the garlic and cook about 30-45 seconds, or just until you can smell garlic. (Don’t brown the garlic; that will make it bitter.)
- Remove garlic and discard; then add the cauliflower and stir-fry until it’s barely cooked through, about 4 minutes.
- Season cauliflower with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Turn off the heat and one at a time gently stir in the Parmesan, the sliced basil, and the pine nuts.
- Serve hot.
- This cauliflower rice recipe isn’t bad when it’s stored in the fridge overnight, but the flavor of the fresh basil really shines through best when it’s freshly made.
Notes
- For optimal texture, avoid chopping the cauliflower too finely.
- If you don’t have fresh basil, dried basil can be a substitute, but fresh is recommended for best flavor.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stir-Fry
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 8g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 5mg